Method of and means for distilling coal



A. W. HELIVIHOLTZ.

METHOD 0F AND MEANS FOR DISTILLING COAL. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I8.I9I9.

uNTTenA sTaTss PATENT @FFHCEO `Pitocnss COKE COMPANY, oFoHioAGo,

ILLINOIS, A. CORPORATION F MAINE.

METHOD OF AND MEAN S FOR DISTILLING COAL.

Specication of Letters Patent.

rate/meri ,Tully ii, ieee.

Application led September 18, 1919. Serial No. 324,565.

To all wiz/0m it may concern: v Be it known that I, ARTHUR W. HELM-HoLTz, a citizen of the United States, residinU at Harrisburg, inthe'county of Saline and `tate of Illinois, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Methods of and Means for Distilling Coal, ofwhich the following is a specification..

This invention relates to a method of and means for distilling coal.

One object of the invention is to improve methods of coal distillationand to improve coke oven constructions and arrangements wherein all ormost of the valuable byproducts are removed rapidly at low temperatureand the fused fuel mass is compressed ,into a firm mass and any desiredpart of the remaining gas removed.

Another object iS to provide a novel coke oven construction in whichassociated sections are arranged for continuous or noninterruptedactionl upon the fuel mass and equipped to perform their functions in anapproved manner.

These and other objects are accomplished by means of the coke ovenconstruction disclosed on the accompanying sheet of drawings, in which alongitudinal sectional view of my complete coke oven, and associatedvertical and horizontal sections are shown.

In coke ovens heretofore constructed,the carbonaceous material treatedtherein has had its by-products removed, and the coke formed within thesame compartment, making it necessary to heat the `oven to an eX-tremely high temperature and to build the chamber long or high to getthe desired capacity. Y

In my improved coke oven construction I have provided two Sections, onecomprising a vertical retort in which the carbonaceous material istreated in a gravity fed mass at a low temperature for rapidly removingthe valuable by-products, and the other comprising4 a horizontal retortin which the/f carbonaceous material, which is in a plastic orsemi-plastic state, or just beyond this state, but still soft enough tocompress rapidly, is treated at a higher temperature and compressed forremoving the desired remaining portion of gas and by-products. When thecharge of coal or carbonaceous material is moved from the lowtemperature oven section to a hotter oven section, ay better grade ofcoke-may be obtained,

of the reaction and compressed in the second oven section so that a fuelof great density may be formed in the hotter portion of the oven,wherein the remainder of the volatile matter, or any portion thereof,may be distilledy ofi' by the higher temperatures. Furthermore, bytreating the coal at a relatively low temperature in the first stage,metal parts may be used for more rapid heat transmission. In thevertical oven section of relatively low temperature the side oven wallsmay be heated and in the horizontal oven Section the top wall may beheated to a high temperature. Another advantage in having the coke ovendivided into two sections is that a relatively short conveyor may beused in the horizontal section, thereby lessening feed trouble; also thevertical section may have a gravity feed, thereby lessening chargingdifficulties at zones 'of plasticity.

As indicated above, I prefer my composite oven to take the form of avertical retort and a horizontal retort properly connected together forcontinuous treatment of the fuel mass. The main disadvantage in the useof a vertical retort alone as a unit of distillation lies in thelooseness of the coke discharge and. thereby being unsatisfactory from afinished commercial standpoint. From the standpoint of gravity feed,larger heating surface, ley-products,l

and in speed of distillation, however, the vertical retort is superiorto the horizontal type, and at the same time the fuel economy isunsurpassed. To obtain the best results I have combined a verticalretort, wherein the fuel feeds by gravity, with a horizontal retortwherein there is a forced feedg It will be understood that the productfrom the vertical retort must have sufiicient volatile 4matter left init to maintain the plastic condition after it enters the horizontal, ortar residues must be added to the mass to make it cohesive. Preferablythe fuel mass should enter the horizontal'retort having a volatilecontent of 12 to 13%, which renders it coking. The tem eratureconditions of the vertical and horizontal retorts are such that theaction on the fuel mass in passing from the vertical to the horizontalretort is a continuous uninterrupted action.

Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of my oven construction.

F ig. 2 is a cross section on line 2 2.-

Referring to the drawings, it will be noted that I have provided an ovenconstruction in which there are two connected sections or retorts 10 and11, the vertical retort 10 being the low temperature section, in whichthe Icy-products are removed, and the horizontal retort 11 being the onein which the =lastic mass is compressed tok form a firm mass of coke,and in which the desired remaining gases are removed, the two sections10 and 11 being connected at 12. Coal is fed by gravity into the ovensection 1() from a hopper 13 through a chute 14, the flow of the coalbeing controlled by a valve 15. Flow of material through the verticalretort also may be controlled by the operation of a conveyor 21 in thehorizontal retort so that no attendance is required at the inlet of thevertical retort in addition to maintaining the coal supply. Thisvertical oven section 10 includes two spaced closed walls 9 and 17 theformer being within the latter and being the one which receives thecoal. The gravity feed of the coal which insures the passage of largeamounts of material, is also assisted by increasing the width of theshell 9 at the lower end thereof or its point of discharge.v Combustionspace or a chamber 18 is formed between the walls whereby the coalwithin the wall 9 is heat treated, the resulting gas, which..

is relatively rich, passing out through a gas off-take 19. Gas burners2O are connected to the combustion space for heating purposes. Theclosed lwall 9 presents a large heating surface which is heated andmaintained at a temperature in a manner to heat-treat the coalthroughout substantially uniformly for causing rapid distillation of theby-products. The coal which is heat treated in the vertical retortassumes a plastic or semi-plastic condition. In the event too much ofthe volatile matter of the 'coal is driven off in the vertical retort,thereby reducing the necessary binder, oil may be supplied to the fuelmass through suitable oil pipes 26, the llow through which may becontrolled by valves 27. The fuel mass feeds downwardly by gravity upona conveyor 21 mounted for a reciprocating movement in the horizontaletort 11, said conveyor being actuated back and forth by a ram 22 havinga rod 23 which is connected to the conveyor.

When the conveyor 21 is drawn outwardly,

the fuel mass or plastic material deposited thereon is prevented frommoving in the same direction to the same extent as the conveyor by thebulk head 24 atl one end of the horizontal retort 11, thereby causingthe plastic material to be lcompressed. Accordingly, when the conveyoris given a return movement the coal mass and conveyor move together sothat the conveyor can accommodate more coal, the latter being fedautomatically by gravity through the vertical retort 10. Thiscompression is caused by the outward stroke of the conveyor, that is asit moves toward the actuating cylinder. The mass of material is plasticand has considerable adhesion to both the conveyor and the walls ofthechamber. The conveyor presents a greater area to the mass and hence theadhesion thereto, together with the fact that the weight of the mass isresting upon the conveyor, cause the mass to move with the conveyor. Asthe outward movement of the conveyor occurs the portion of the materialadjacent the bulkead 24 cannot move with conveyor but is compressedbetween the bulkhead and the remainder of the mass of material. Some ofthe completely coked material drops off the far end of the conveyor. IAsthe conveyor moves inwardly the material adjacent the bulkhead 24 moveswith thc conveyor substantially the length of its stroke and newmaterial drops down from the vertical part of the retort to rest uponthe portion of the conveyor which moves inwardly throughv the bulkhead.As a result of'this continuous action, the rela-V tive temperatures inthe two retorts being properly maintained, the coal in its plastic orsemi-plastic condition is conveyed in a compressed state through thehorizontal retort 11. The oven section 11 is a flat broad chamber whichis heated by an overhead arch structure 29 having an overhead heatingpassageway 30 fed by gas from ports 31 and 32. The side walls of thisoven preferably are heated throughout, the `front half of the horizontallength in any 4suitable`manner to assist in the continuous heatingaction of the fuel mass. Near ono end of the oven section 11 at theconnection point 12 is a plate 33 inclined in a direction to assist incausing the plasticmaterial to 4be compressed as it is forced to thedischarge end of said oven section. This oven section 11 preferably isprovided with a capacity substantially the same as the by-productssection or retort 10, orY

possibly a little smaller to allow for greater compression. Passageways34 and 35 are provided which lead to the regenerating chambers 36 and37, respectively, said chambers having outlet and inlet passageways 38and 39, respectively, leading to a reversing valve not shown. It will beunderstood that when the conveyor 21 is reciprocated back and forth notonly is the coke pressed into a firm mass, but the formed coke isdischarged through a chute 41 Onto a conve or'42 when the door 43 ismoved into an open position. The horizontal. retort has a gas offtake28, the gas passing therethrough being relatively lean. Oil also may beinjected into the fuel mass lin the horizontal retort 11, as shown at 44and 45, through pipes 46 and-47, respectively, by any suitable pumpsystem. The horizontal retort. having a separate gas outlet andcondensing system, the gas recovered at high temperature distillationmay be used mainly for heating the walls of both retorts, regeneratedair being used in both flue systems to conserve gas and make thecombustion System economical.

As mentioned above, it is a, well recognized fact that the verticalretort taken alone for completing the coke body falls far short of beingsatisfactory. Accordingly, instead of having merely a fair grade ofcoke, I have combined my vertical retort with a cooperating horizontalretort in order that the vertical retort may be' used almost entirelyfor the production of valuable by-products with as much rapidity aspossible. This is done by allowing the vertical retort to bring all ofthe gravity fed fuel mass to a plastic state, or Asufficiently beyondthis state to still allow of further cementing and handling of theproduct and pass this heated mass to the highly heated horizontalretort, in which there is a Aforce feed whereby the remainder, or adesired quantity, of the by-products and volatile matter are extracted.By combining the vertical and horizontal retorts as herein disclosed,the lower portion of the usual vertical retort and the front portion ofthe usual horizontal retort are cut off' or eliminated. Accordingly, theplastic or semi-plastic material passing from the vertical retort isimmediately presented to the horiontal retort at the zone where theheaviest compression is exerted for compressing the coke at the criticaltime, which is necessary1 to produce a compact and dense coke body. Theshortened combined systems herein disclosed make it possible to producereadily controlled uniform temperatures so that fuel in the verticalretort is not prevented from reaching vaporizing temperature too late inits downward travel. Oil is preferably injected as indicated in thevertical retort at a point in the fuel body where the temperatures aresteady at 900 or 10000 F., the vertical fuel column not being over 1100to 1200o F. at the point of discharge. The travel of gases in thevertical retort being toward the coa-l inlet, the vapors from the oilcracking sweep upwardly and present more opportunity for hydrogen atomsto unite with other atoms for producing NH3, CH4, CSHG, etc. Oil in thehorizontal retort, wherein the temperature ranges from 1200 to 15000 F.,is introduced at a zone of temperature 1300 to 14000 F., which ispreferable for the synthesis of more CSHG, (36H5, CH3 and CGHSOHcompounds and creosote components. At the same time the coke surface isimproved by a carbon deposit. The amount of oil injected inthehorizontal retort is very much less than that injected in thevertical, the ratio being about one to onehalf. While I have shown twopoints for injecting oil into the horizontal retort, oil should beinjected into the carbonaceous mass therein only at one point at a time.

By means of this composite oven construction the valuable by-productsare removed at a low temperature, thereby making it possible to usemetal parts. The fuel is rendered plastic so that during the finalheating stage the plastic coal can be pressed into a firm mass and anydesired balance of the gas removed. The temperature to which the fuelmass is subjected is increased from the vertical retort through thehorizontal retort, thereby causing the action on the fuel mass to becontinuous. rlhe conveyor for the horizontal retort is relatively short,thereby lessening the feeding troubles, the fuel mass being fed bygravity from the vertical retort.

It is my intention to cover all modifications of the invention fallingwithin the spirit and scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A coke oven comprising two separate sections connected so thatcarbonaceous materia-l may pass from one section to the other, means forheating the material in the first section to cause it to assume theplastic state, conveying means in the second section comprising amovable carrier receiving the material from the first section in thisplastic state, said conveying means acting to compress the material.

2. A coke oven comprising two separate sections connected so thatcarbonaceous material may pass from one section to the other, the first,section being vertical, means for heating the material in the firstsection to remove by-products and cause it to assume the plastic state,the second section being horizontal, and conveying means comprising areciprocating carrier adapted to carry the material through this sectionfrom the connection with the first section, said conveying means actingto compress the material.

3. A. coke oven comprising two separate connected sections forcontinuous action upon a fuel mass, one of said sections having 4heatedside walls for transmitting heat to carbonaceous material `in a mass forextracting by-products therefrom, the other section having a heated topWall for heating the carbonaceous material to extract further gases anda conveyor adapted to cooperate` with a wall of the last mentionedsection to cause the compression of the carbonaceous material into afirm mass.

4. A coking system comprising twooven sections, one vertical and theother horizontal, the vertical section being provided with heating meanswhereby the speed of distillation may be rapid, the by-product recoverybeing relatively large and the feed of carbonaceous material being bygravity, and means in the horizontal section comprising a conveyormovable lengthwise of the section for compressing the unfinished fuelmass into a firm coke body, vmeans for recovering further heating gasesand other by-products and means for controlling the final content ofvolatile matter in the finished coke.

5.. A coke oven comprising two separate connected sections, one beingprovided with heat-ing means whereby the carbonac-eous material may betreated as a mass at a low temperature to remove by-products, and theother being provided with means whereby the carbonaceous material iscompressed to form a firm mass of coke, and means for feeding oil to thecarbonaceous material to control the volatile content thereof.

6. The method of distilling coal consisting first in heating the coal ina'mass at a relatively low temperature for driving off the richby-products in large quantity, and then heating the carbonaceousmaterial to a higher temperature and compressing same for driving off.more by-products and forming a firm mass of coke.

7. The method of distilling coal consisting first in heating the coal ina vertically movable mass at a relatively low temperature for drivingoff by-products, and then heating the carbonaceous material to a highertemperature and compressing same for driving off more by-products andforming a firm mass of coke.

8. The method of distilling coal consisting first in heating the coal ina. gravity fed mass at a relatively low temperature for driving ofll therich by-products, and then 5 heating the carbonaceous material to ahigher temperature and mechanically compressing same for driving offmore byproducts and forming a firm mass of coke.

9. The `method of distilling coal consisting first in heating the coalin a mass at a temperature until the mass assumes a plastic condition,during which time by-products are driven ofl', then heating the plasticmass to a higher temperature for driving off more 6 by-products, andthen. compressing said mass for forming a firm mass of coke.

10. The method of distilling coal consisting first in heating the coalin a mass until the mass assumes a plastic condition, during 6 whichtime by-products are driven off, then treating the plastic mass tocontrol its volatile content, and then compressing the mass for forminga firm coke.

11. The method of distilling coal consist- 7 ing first in heating thecoal in a mass until the mass assumes a plastic condition', during whichtime by-products are driven off', then treating the plastic. mass tocontrol its vola-- tile content, and then compressing the mass 7 at ahigher temperature.

12. The method of distilling coal consisting first in heating the coalin a mass until the mass assumes a plastic condition, during which timehy-products are driven off, then 8 adding oil to the mass to control itsvolatile content, and then heating the mass at a higher temperature fordriving off more byproducts. 13. The method of distilling coalconsisting first in heating the coal in a mass until the mass assumes aplastic condition, during which time by-produc-ts are driven ofl", thenadding oil to the mass to control its volatile content, then heating themass at a higher temperature for driving off more byproducts, and thencompressing the mass for forming a firm coke.

Signed at Harrisburg, Ill., this 2nd day of Sept., 1919.

ARTHUR W. HELMHOLTZ.

